


Could have been me

by Etrangere



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Study, Drabble Sequence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-04
Updated: 2011-07-04
Packaged: 2017-10-21 01:04:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/219194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Etrangere/pseuds/Etrangere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius, Peter, Remus, and reasons to hate Snape.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Could have been me

People don’t hate what’s alien to them. They hate what hits too close.

He had loathed the skinny boy from his first curse uttered. Stepping from the gathered bystanders, he had, with a few ridiculing words, stolen Snape’s thunder. Dark Arts, regardless what those children thought, was not cool. It was a tool for hurt and power. Sirius knew too well.

Years later, seeing Snape amid the usual sneering faces of the Pure Blood club, he still thought, recoiling with revulsion. _This could have been me_.

The thought turned bitter when Regulus eagerly joined them, trusting Snape like a brother.

 

* * *

 

Peter’s hatred had never been personal. Any laughter, hex or insult was done with the casual logic of childhood’s hierarchical order. After all, Peter knew very well that he could have been that lonely, spiteful, fuming boy backed up against the wall.

Could still be, if ever he forgot his place.

Snape was stupid. After all, Peter was just as intelligent, poor, and ugly as Snape was. But Peter never let his pride stand in the way of his ambitions.

That remained true twenty years later. And Peter hated because, despite this, Snape still thought he was better than him.

 

* * *

 

Hatred was a luxury a werewolf couldn’t afford. Remus usually found indirect ways to avenge slights anyway.

He teased out of habit, chatted out of curiosity, acted civil out of respect for the spy. Overall, he would only admit indifference to Snape.

When Snape finally did something worthy of hatred, he was surprised by how betrayed he felt.

Maybe, returning from another spying mission that left him wearied, jaded and wondering why he cared for a world to which he scarcely belonged, he needed the hatred to stir his apathy. This could have been him.

Compassion was a luxury too.


End file.
